NFL commissioner Roger Goodell's salary will reportedly double to $20 million as part of a new five-year contract extension from the NFL. That's a lot of coin but if the league wasn't awash in money the owners wouldn't reward Goodell with that kind of payday.

Not surprisingly, some players were less than effusive when they heard the news, probably because depending on your perspective, Goodell's tenure as commissioner falls somewhere between awesome (the owners) and awful (the players). Falcons wide receiver Roddy Whitetweeted apoplectically Tuesday:

"How in the hell can u pay a man this much money that can't run tackle or catch?"

And before you roll your eyes, this isn't a "he's never played the game!" argument. When someone suggested that Goodell's oversight as commissioner has allowed White to make a lot of money, White got testy.

"Thats the stupidest thing i have ever heard the players make this league dont ever forget that," White tweeted in response. "My god given talents feed me not him."

This is true. No fan in the history of tackle football has ever bought a ticket to a game to see Goodell. We talked about this on a recent Pick-6 Podcast and our opinion is basically this: Goodell is a savvy politician who worked his way up from the bottom and is now presiding over the nation's most popular sport. He is responsible for it's growth, yes, but without players the NFL wouldn't exist in it's current form. We're pretty sure Goodell would agree with this.

We mention this because Goodell spoke recently about the state of the league, specifically addressing expansion ("We are not considering expansion. I’ve tried to make that clear when I was asked by Bob Costas recently.") and the never-gonna-die 18-game schedule discussions.

“Well, I appreciate the enthusiasm for it and I hear it from the fans consistently," Goodell told ESPN 1050, dusting off his not-entirely-accurate talking points from this summer's lockout. "People want more football. I think they want less preseason and more regular season and that’s the concept we are talking about here."

Again, this is stretching the truth. Everybody -- fans, players, media -- thinks the preseason is too long. But that doesn't mean they want, say, two fewer preseason games if it means two more regular-season games. Last May, CBSSports.com's Josh Katzowitz did an informal Twitter poll and found that 83.9 percent of respondents were fine with the 16-game schedule.

In February 2011, Sports Illustrated's Peter King did his own Twitter poll and concluded that "18 percent of 1,200 football fans, less than one out of every five, want what Goodell says they want. And 82 percent want to keep it at 16 regular-season games."

But even if you call B.S. on the self-selection bias in such polls, what about this? Goodell has championed safety above all else but isn't he talking out of both sides of his mouth when he says "safety is No. 1" and then clamoring for two additional regular-season games because the fans want it?

In November 2010, Dolphins owner Stephen Ross said "The additional games, the studies show, will not really increase injuries."

Dated September 6, 2010, the 26-page version (of a study conducted by an independent research firm for an NFLPA injury report) relies on data from the NFL Injury Surveillance System in following 16,552 injuries from 2004 to 2009 — position-by-position, game-by-game, and location-by-location.

Over the course of a season, the analysis found that 16.1 percent of injuries occurred in training camp, another 24.7 percent in preseason, and 57.9 percent during the regular season. In total, 21.2 percent classified as "major" injuries, with severity increasing dramatically from the regular season to the postseason. And while game-related injuries actually trended down from week to week, the report's introduction of head-injury data provides an alarming juxtaposition…

The juxtaposition? Total team injuries decrease over the course of a 16-game season and into the postseason but the percentage of brain-related injuries increases over that same time. (You can see the charts here.)

Perhaps that's a function of better awareness about the long-term dangers of concussions, as well as improved testings procedures. "Still," the Esquire piece concludes, "the early version of the report states that each player now has a 10 percent chance of suffering from a concussion in a given season."

However you spin it, that's not good.

Back to Goodell's recent radio appearance:

"We wouldn’t add an extra two games without reducing the preseason and we are not going to do it without the players support, so we did that in the collective bargaining agreement instead of having the unilateral right, which we had," he said. "We determined that we were going to do this together. We are going to make changes in the offseason and during the preseason and during the regular season to make the game safer. If we can accomplish that we’ll look at the idea of restructuring the season and taking two preseason games away and the potential of adding regular season games, but I don’t think that will happen until at least 2013 or 14.”

Conspiracy theorists might say that while Goodell's crackdown on helmet-to-helmet hits and unprotected pass-catchers does make the game safer, it's also something he and the owners can point to in a few years and say, "See, we take this very seriously, illegal hits are down, the NFL is less violent, the next logical step: 18-game seasons."

Because other than money, there's no urgency here. If Goodell truly is listening to the fans (or the players), this wouldn't ever come up again. We're guessing that ain't happening.

Goodell on 18 games: 'People want more football'

That's news to me. 16 games is long enough. What we really want is to put the contact back in the contact sport. Let linebackers, DB's, etc. to have the ability to hit receivers again. We want to get rid of protecting the quarterback too much and also get rid of the sissy slide rule. We want to return the game back to the 60's, 70's and 80's when players played football and fans watched players get hit. Goodell should go goodbye! Doesn't Rozelle have a son that could take over?

Since: Oct 9, 2007

Posted on: February 18, 2012 3:25 pm

Goodell on 18 games: 'People want more football'

I don't want an eighteen game season. So you don't speak for me good-for-nothing. The constant changes you are making are putting football in a dangerous position. It's always easier to fall into a hole than it is to climb out of one. Don't take the popularity of football for granted. There is a breaking point and you are reaching it quickly. There is no greater football fan than me and I did not enjoy football this year as much as I have in the past.

Since: Jan 2, 2012

Posted on: February 18, 2012 2:57 pm

Goodell on 18 games: 'People want more football'

16 games with 4 pre-season games is perfect. The pre-season games are not ususally fun, and as a season ticket holder, it is tough to pay for those 2 games. However, they serve a useful function. The pre-season gives unknown guys a chance to shine. If teams only played 2 pre-season games, the starters would hog the playing time to get ready for the regular season. Ususally the starters play VERY minimally in Game 1, more in game 2, and most of game 3. The rookies and unknown free agent types get most of Game 1 and usually all of Game 4. Those guys would never get a chance without 4 pre-season games. Another point made by other posters is valid as well... Injuries. 2 less games for these guys to get injured, and it puts more emphasis on the importance of each game at 16 only. It is a lond enough saeson at 16.

Since: Mar 9, 2007

Posted on: February 18, 2012 2:49 pm

Goodell on 18 games: 'People want more football'

Goodell Era: Sissy Ball.

Since: Feb 18, 2012

Posted on: February 18, 2012 2:33 pm

Goodell on 18 games: 'People want more football'

i'm all for a 18 game season with only 2 preseason games. why not. they are going to play 20 games regardless.

Since: Feb 18, 2012

Posted on: February 18, 2012 2:14 pm

Goodell on 18 games: 'People want more football'

THE NFL GAME SUCKS TODAY COMPARED TO THE 60'S, 70'S AND 80'S. WITH ALL OF GOODELL'S NEW RULES. HE HAS RUINED A ONCE GREAT LEAGUE, SO WHY WOULD WE WATCH A 18 GAME SEASON. THANKS GOODELL FOR NOTHING. IT IS TIME TO RUN GOODELL OUT AND GET A COMMISSIONER NOT A LAWYER.

Since: May 7, 2009

Posted on: February 18, 2012 2:04 pm

Goodell on 18 games: 'People want more football'

Duh, of course we do.

We need more couch time. We need more commercial programming to buy more beer. We need more opportunities to see more hot babes and godaddy type commercials. We need more rallying time for militarism. We need more idolization of worthless people. We need more social deterioration. We need live camera close-ups at people swearing to our watching children. We need the gangster role models. We need more Janet Jackson so our daughters can learn how to be involved also. We need more excuses not to go to church and spend time with the family. We need more gender bending touchdown dances routines. We need more self-indulgence because we are worth it. We need more political correctness. We need more DHLS feeling us up and telling us they make us safe. We need the meaning for our lives that only football brings. We need more social deterioration.

We are Americans, we need more football.

Since: Aug 21, 2006

Posted on: February 18, 2012 1:57 pm

Goodell on 18 games: 'People want more football'

I missed the the survey .... I dont want 18 and I would like to stick with 16. I agree... these people mix the kool-aid and the bots out there slurp it up like the tools they are.

Since: Nov 25, 2007

Posted on: February 18, 2012 1:53 pm

That' rhetoric. What fans are he talking about?

I don't see any fans clamoring for this change. The consensus that I hear is that our pro sports seasons are already too long, and the result is that fans are getting burned-out. This is about money, and that is all. Don'r feed us with this crap about the fans wanting it; because that is not true.